The great manganese dust-up
Sixteen Bay companies ask high court to halt illegal ore operations in Markman
Sixteen frustrated business owners have turned to the Gqeberha high court, seeking an immediate halt to illegal manganese operations in Markman.
The court action comes amid the continuing deterioration in the industrial precinct and the announcement by the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality last week that it had approached the courts to drive through its June 2022 effort to close down rogue ore companies.
Long-standing Markman businesses described in court papers last week how manganese operators moved into the area in early 2020 during the Covid-19 lockdown despite an apparent lack of zoning and other compliances, and their presence had since grown exponentially.
The result, they said, was around-the-clock fleets of overloaded and uncovered ore haulage trucks, crushed roads and pavements, collapsed and blocked drains, water and air pollution, contamination of equipment and products, and nightmarish conditions for employees and surrounding communities.
The notice of motion is directed at five property owners and two property rental firms, whose properties are used by the manganese operators, and three ore handlers.
The other listed respondents are the municipality and ministers of environment, water and labour.
The companies are seeking an order compelling manganese property owners CNRprop, Hendrik van Wyngaard, Shabeer Adam, Fatima Adam and Markmanprop “to take steps necessary to procure cessation of activities as are unlawful and constitute nuisance”.
They also want an order compelling manganese handlers Black Magic Logistics, FNM, trading as Nexus, and MPG Trading “to cease transportation of manganese to and from the properties they use, cease stockpiling and loading and unloading manganese ... and take necessary steps to cover [existing] stockpiles”.
The applicants want the court to further compel the manganese operators to “protect stockpiles from the rain so as to prevent manganese leaching into the soil and dust and leachate carrying into the stormwater system and ... remove from Markman all unlawfully stockpiled manganese”.
The notice of motion was filed on March 3 and the matter is set to be argued in April.
The respondents have not yet filed a notice to oppose the court action.
The companies applying for the order are Sternwood Products, African Hide Trading, Atlantic Oil, Engen Markman, Cape Produce, Power Metal Recyclers, Distinctive Choice 570, Freight Solutions, Heydenrychs Quality Meat, Lentaba Meat, Algoa Cement, Petrefuel, Stormberg Certified Organic Farms, Weir Minerals Africa, Xmeco Heavy Engineering and Principle Plastics.
Sternwood owner Andrew Stern said on Friday the application, served on each of the respondents, comprised 400 pages and included 19 affidavits detailing the dire situation in Markman.
He said the companies had tried to be selective in their approach.
“We are focusing on BlackMagic Logistics, Nexus and MPG because they are the entities we are aware of that are storing manganese in Markman — besides Tradekor, which has the necessary health certificate from the metro.
“Besides being a constant nuisance, dust caused by their activities lands on products, dirties machines, and blocks filters,” Stern said.
“We are doing this for the health of our staff, and to make working conditions OK again. We’re doing it for Markman.”
Algoa Cement co-owner Chris Collett said his company felt let down by the authorities.
“There is no-one protecting us,” he said.
“Chrysler Street outside our premises has become worse and it is now completely destroyed.
“There was some indication the metro was taking these illegal operators on last year but nothing seems to have happened.
“You almost never see a truck being pulled over by traffic police though they are all too often clearly illegal and unroadworthy.
“Axels are rusty and number plates are covered in mud so you can’t read them and ore is overloaded and seldom covered by a tarpaulin.”
Environmental chemist
Ronelle Friend, who wrote a report last year exposing the harm being caused by the Markman manganese industry, including water laced with heavy metals 3,300 times over the accepted limit flowing through stormwater drains into the Swartkops Estuary, said compliance with legislation was what was sought.
“Out of all the manganese handlers in Markman, only Tradekor is currently compliant and there’s no issue with them,” she said.
“One of the key aspects of the court action is zoning, which should have protected the resident businesses from manganese handlers even setting up there but it did not because it was not properly enforced.
“I think the companies involved here are just gatvol (fed up).
“I was speaking to an employee recently on site and his eyes were completely bloodshot.
“He takes sinusitis pills every day but he just can’t handle the dust any more.”
Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber chief executive Denise van Huyssteen said manganese operations should not be allowed to negatively affect the Bay.
“The chamber is concerned about the retention of jobs and survival of existing businesses in Markman as well as the health and wellbeing of employees and surrounding communities.
“The unacceptable level of ore dust has to be controlled.
“Rail needs to become fully operational again to significantly reduce the number of trucks on the road.”
She said the chamber was urging the authorities to ensure manganese operators complied fully with all regulations.
“Aligned with this, stakeholders in the manganese value chain, from the mines through to the ports, must take responsibility for ensuring that their products are responsibly handled and don’t impact negatively on the operations of non-manganese businesses and communities.
“These stakeholders also need to take responsibility for the restoration and maintenance of affected infrastructure in Markman and key entry and exit roads.
“Manganese companies should not be able to operate anywhere in the metro unless they comply with legislation.”
Van Huyssteen said supporting strategies could help galvanise this clampdown.
“Timelines for implementation of the new manganese terminal at Ngqura need to be accelerated to ensure it is in place to effectively handle manganese exports.”
Bay public health boss Thsonono Buyeye said the metro had presented an audit of all incidents of noncompliance by manganese operators to the justice department.
“The response has been slow and we hope the department can prioritise these issues as the damage caused is so severe.”
He said standard operating procedures were in place and the ore dust issue alone was of great concern.
“Its effect on human health cannot be ruled out and its negative impact on businesses is very clear for everyone to see.”
Bay human settlements boss Tukela Zamani said the metro was determined to correct the situation.
“We understand there are some very powerful people behind the scenes of the manganese handling space but the city remains dedicated to bringing all transgressors to book.”
Black Magic legal head Monique van Zyl said on Friday she knew from a colleague in Gqeberha that the notice of motion had been filed.
“But we have not been served with the notice yet.”
She said she did not agree that the company was acting illegally in Markman.
“We are compliant. We’re trying to solve problems like damaged roads by contributing to the Markman Forum Fund.”
Nexus representative Wiaan Nel confirmed the matter had been handed over to the company’s legal counsel.
“We will not be commenting until the matter is ruled on by a competent court.”
MPG declined to comment.